Tampa Bay Rays RHP Matt Garza acknowledged it was more than
coincidence than he hit Mark Teixeira the inning after Yankees starter
Joba Chamberlain threw a pitch at the head of Evan Longoria, and noted
the Yankees threw inside to Longoria and hit him Monday too.

“I just kind of got tired of people brushing him back,” Garza
said. “It’s about time someone made a statement. They did it on Monday
night and we didn’t do anything, they didn’t do it too much (Tuesday)
and (Chamberlain) did it again tonight.

“I hate to be that guy, but someone had to take a stand and say,
“You know, we’re tired of it.” You can go after our best guy, well,
we’ll make some noise too, and that’s what happened.”

You know, part of being “that guy” in a beanball war entails giving a
totally deadpan statement to the media after the game that goes “I
guess that pitch to Teixeira got away from me.” Doing that and letting
your subsequent silence speak for itself is way more badass than
talking about just how much you stand up for your teammates. And it’s
way less likely to get Bob Watson on your butt and suspending you when
you’re trying to pitch your team back into a pennant race.